Mel Nicholls
in 2021
Personal information
Born (1977-07-17) 17 July 1977
Worcester, United Kingdom
Sport
Country Great Britain
SportWheelchair racing
Event(s)sprint
middle distance
ClubCoventry Godiva Harriers
Coached byJob King [club]
Paula Dunn [national]
Achievements and titles
Paralympic finals2012
Medal record
Representing  Great Britain
Women's athletics
IPC World Championships
Silver medal – second place2015 Doha800 m T34
IPC European Championships
Silver medal – second place2014 Swansea 800m – T34
Bronze medal – third place2014 Swansea 100m – T34

Melissa Nicholls (born 17 July 1977) is a British wheelchair athlete specialising in middle-distance events in the T34 classification.[1] Nicholls competed in the 2012 Summer Paralympics and won a silver medal in the 800m at the 2015 IPC Athletics World Championships.

Personal history

Nicholls was born in Worcester in 1977.[1] She studied Equine Science at Hartpury College and works as a teaching assistant at Winchcombe Abbey School.[2][3]

Nicholls was involved in a serious car accident which left her with heart complications.[2] From 2001 she had a series of strokes, while a stroke in 2008 left her unable to use her left arm and leg.[2][4] In April 2009 doctors discovered a hole in her heart for which she underwent corrective surgery.[2]

In 2020, Nicholls had a 5 kg ovarian tumour removed at Cheltenham General Hospital.[5]

Career history

Nicholls first wheelchair race was at Stoke Gifford at an open event in 2010.[1] In 2011, she was classified as a T34 athlete and that summer attended multiple meets across Britain as well as events in Switzerland and Netherlands competing in the 100m, 200m, 400m and 800m races.[1]

Mel Nicholls on her handbike in 2021

By early 2012 Nicholls had posted a sub-21 second 100m sprint and qualified for the Summer Paralympics in London, as part of the Great Britain team, in both the 100m and 200m events.[1] In the 100m she was drawn in the first heat but her time of 22.41 saw her fail to progress to the final.[1] In the 200m heats she finished fourth and qualified for the final.[1] Nicholls finished seventh with a time of 40.00.[1]

In 2014 Nicholls represented Britain in the IPC Athletics European Championships in Swansea. There she won her first major international medals, with a bronze in the T34 100m, and a silver in her favoured 800m event.[1] In the 800m Nicholls finished just a second behind teammate Hannah Cockroft with a time of 2:16.68.[6]

In 2019, Nicholls set a new world record, handcycling from Land's End to John O'Groats in under seven days. In 2021, she undertook a 75-day, 4,800-mile handcycle journey around the coast of the United Kingdom, starting and finishing in her hometown of Tewkesbury, and raising £1,590 for Ovarian Cancer Action.[5]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Mel Nicholls". thepowerof10.info. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Nicholls, Mel". IPC. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
  3. ↑ "Paralympic Athlete: Mel Nicholls". heart.co.uk. 11 March 2012. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
  4. ↑ "Melissa Nicholls' on a mission for Paralympic glory". bristolpost.co.uk. 23 March 2010. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
  5. 1 2 "Mel Nicholls: Paralympian completes handcycle journey around UK". BBC News. 23 October 2021. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
  6. ↑ "Women's 800m - T34 Final". IPC. 22 August 2014. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
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